Mavericks' Kyrie Irving reveals 'confused' reaction to Naji Marshall, Jusuf Nurkic fight
12/28/2024 12:14 PM
While the game ended in a victory, Dallas Maveicks’ Naji Marshall got into a physical altercation with Phoenix Suns big-man Jusuf Nurkic which resulted in ejections. As the Mavericks star in Marshall trolled Nurkic after the game by making the fight his social media banner, his teammate Kyrie Irving gave his thoughts on the interaction on Friday night.
JUSUF NURKIC AND NAJI MARSHALL EXCHANGE PUNCHES pic.twitter.com/UgO1Fz8qDy
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) December 28, 2024
The altercation occurred with 9:02 left in the third quarter as Marshall and Nurkic would swing at each other with P.J. Washington also getting involved by pushing the Suns player to the ground, looking to protect his teammate. Irving was asked after the game about the incident and spoke about how he was “confused” by it all according to Duane Rankin.
“I was a little confused. It happened so quickly. Moments like that, you just want everybody to be protecting themselves. I feel like that’s what PJ was doing for Naji. Naji after he got hit, he was just protecting himself. If we’re out on the street, even if we’re not playing basketball, you gotta put your hands up and at least swing back. I’ll take care of this fine. … PJ’s fine. Their ejections. Yeah, throw that s**t under the rug, man. Excuse my language. It’s part of basketball sometimes. Maybe that’s just the way we end 2024, where somebody actually swings in the NBA. Maybe that’ll help our ratings.”
Kyrie Irving jokingly says he's taking care of Naji Marshall and PJ Washington's fines after getting ejected
(via @DuaneRankin)pic.twitter.com/p7qfZdXBlm
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) December 28, 2024
Marshall, Washington, and Nurkic would be ejected from the game as Mavericks head coach Jason Kidd would speak on how “emotions” can get the better of some players according to The Athletic.
"They were protecting each other," Kidd said after his team's 98-89 win. "That's what that was. Emotions can get high."
Mavericks’ Naji Marshall and Jusuf Nurkic have been in fights before
This would not be the first time that Marshall has been in physical altercations as more recent as last season when he was with the Minnesota Timberwolves where he and Miami Heat star Jimmy Butler got into it. Certainly, as for Nurkic, he famously went face-to-face with Golden State Warriors star Draymond Green,
Looking at it from the Suns’ side, Kevin Durant would speak about the Mavericks incident and give his perspective on what he saw and heard during the moment. Consequently, Durant would even go as far as to say that he understood Dallas’ point of view of the altercation according to Gerald Bourguet.
"I turned around at the right time,” Durant said. “I didn’t know what they were talking about…You hate to see that in this game, I understood what Dallas was thinking, their perspective”
“I turned around at the right time…I didn’t know what they were talking about”
Kevin Durant didn’t see Jusuf Nurkic fight, but added: “You hate to see that in this game…unfortunate situation but I understood both-I understood what Dallas was thinking, their perspective” pic.twitter.com/bvyjO3wA43
— Gerald Bourguet (@GeraldBourguet) December 28, 2024
Emphatically, Dallas won the game as they are now at currently a 20-11 record which puts them fourth in the Western Conference. Subsequently, the Mavericks next face the Portland Trail Blazers on Saturday night.
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